Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (31 page)

Emily heard a low hiss from behind
her, and she turned suddenly to see Allen and Chevalier crouched,
facing each other in a stand-off. Allen narrowed his eyes and stood
up slowly.

“
Chev! Don’t do that,”
Emily said, frowning. She poured another glass for Allen and handed
it to him.

“
Simple predatory response.
His instincts won’t let him attack a larger predator,” Chevalier
said, standing up calmly.

“
I hate when you talk about
him like he’s a wolf.” Emily turned back to her sandwich. She
slipped it onto a plate and gave Allen another glass, moments
before he hissed at her, which she was slowly getting used
to.

Chevalier grinned and followed her
into the dining room, “Let me take Alex.”

Emily nodded and let Chevalier slip
the baby out of the warm sling. Alexis didn’t like it, and her
bottom lip stuck out quickly. Chevalier expertly laid her against
his shoulder and patted her back while he rocked slowly, and she
soon calmed down. He watched Emily closely. She was running out of
energy quickly, and he wanted to make sure she didn’t overdo
it.

“
Did you feed Damnit and
clean out his stall?” Emily asked Allen when he joined
them.

“
Not yet,” Allen said,
sitting down.

Emily frowned when she saw the blood
on his shirt, “Allen, do you have to make such a mess when you
drink?”

Allen shrugged.

“
Go get a clean shirt on
and then clean out that stall,” Emily said sternly.

Allen sighed and left the
room.

Emily was already feeling tired. She
hated not being able to do something as simple as making lunch
without needing a nap afterwards, and she knew the heku in the
palace were all afraid she was going to die at any moment because
of it. She sat down the last half of her sandwich and stood up,
wincing at the soreness in her muscles and the sharp pain in her
chest from the broken ribs.

“
Come on, time for a nap,”
Chevalier said as he wrapped an arm around her to help support her
as she walked.

Emily nodded, dreading the four
flights of stairs. She also hated how the servants all looked at
her. Though they knew she was mortal, it wasn’t until the bloody
aftermath of the birth that they truly realized that she could die,
and how fragile mortals really were. None of them wanted to be
anywhere near the Elder when the time came.

By the time she got to the foyer, she
felt exhausted and looked up the long flight of stairs. Chevalier
chuckled and handed Alexis back to Emily, and then picked her up in
a loving cradle and carried her up to her room. Just as he laid her
down, she saw him cock his head to the side, characteristic of when
he was being called to the council chambers.

“
It’s ok, go. I’m just
going to feed Alex, and then we’ll both take a nap,” Emily said,
and pulled a pillow up for Alexis.

Chevalier nodded and kissed her
softly, “I’ll be back.”

Emily was just finishing nursing
Alexis when the door to her room burst open. Kyle, Mark, and Damon
came in frantically.

“
We have to get you out of
here,” Kyle said, and disappeared into the nursery.

“
What’s going on?” Emily
asked in a panic.

Damon looked at her for a moment, and
then picked her up with all of her blankets, while Mark took the
baby and wrapped her up tightly. Kyle came out of the nursery with
a bag, and they headed up to the roof.

“
Kyle, what’s going on?”
Emily asked again. She didn’t like the way Damon held her
tightly.

Allen was already in the new Equites 2
when Damon jumped inside, still holding Emily. Once Mark and Kyle
hopped in, Damon ordered the pilot to go as he buckled Emily into a
seat.

“
Tell me what’s going on,”
Emily said angrily.

“
It leaked out that Alex is
a girl. The covens are mad,” Kyle told her.

“
What? Equites covens are
causing problems?” Emily asked, frowning.

Kyle nodded, “Yes, they’re trying to
stage a mutiny of the Council.”

“
No! Take me back,” Emily
said, and unbuckled. Damon stopped her as she tried to crawl up to
the pilot.

“
No, our orders are to make
sure you aren’t involved,” Damon told her.

“
I can help though! I can
ash them,” Emily said as she pulled Damon’s hand from her
arm.

“
You don’t have the
strength yet,” Kyle said softly. “Sit down, we’re following orders
from the entire Council.”

“
I can help,” she said,
pleading.

“
No you can’t, not right
now. I’m not doubting your abilities, but you have to admit you’re
still pretty weak,” Kyle said, and Damon winced.

Emily glared at him and sat back as
Damon re-buckled her in and she took the baby from Mark.

“
Where are we going?” Emily
asked angrily.

“
We’re meeting a private
jet in New York. That’s all I can say for now,” Damon said as he
avoided her fierce glare.

Emily pulled the baby against her
shoulder and watched outside as the terrain flew by. By the time
they reached New York, she had a plan. If she could get away from
the heku for just a few minutes, she could get a rental car and be
back at the palace by morning.

“
Em, let me have the baby,”
Kyle said, holding his hands out.

Emily frowned, “Why?”

“
Please” he said, and Emily
unbuckled and handed Alexis over reluctantly. The second Kyle had
the baby, Damon lunged for her. She dove away from him, but felt
his hands on her waist.

“
No!” she screamed at him,
trying to kick him in the face.

Allen unbuckled and jumped on Damon’s
back, “Let go of my Mom!”

Mark gently pulled Allen off of
Damon.

Damon flipped Emily over and grabbed
her face in his hands.

“
Don’t do it!” she screamed
at him as he tried to lock her gaze.

“
Stop fighting,” Damon
growled.

Emily’s knee connected with his groin,
but it only made him madder. She struggled to pull out from under
his grasp, every trick she knew, he deflected.

“
Emily!” he roared, and the
brief glance she gave him was all he needed. She felt herself being
drawn into his eyes, and before long, her breathing slowed and she
stopped fighting.

Kyle and Mark both turned their faces
away from them, out of respect for Emily. Damon whispered softly to
Emily as the helicopter descended into a small airport outside of
New York City. He paused any time he felt Emily starting to pull
away from him, and then began again when he was in
control.

Emily shut her eyes just as Damon
stood up, “I’ve never had that many problems with a
gaze.”

“
It’s Emily, you’re lucky
she’s still too weak to resist it,” Kyle whispered.

“
Keep your hands off of my
Mom,” Allen said, glaring at Damon.

“
I’m sorry, it had to be
done,” Damon told the 4-year-old.

The helicopter landed and the pilot
cut the engines as the jet pilot started up the airplane. Damon
carried Emily into the private jet, and laid her down on a bed in
the back. Allen was still scowling at him when he took his seat
with the other heku. Kyle was rocking the baby, trying to keep her
asleep.

The pilot took off once the flight
checks were done, and soon, the only thing visible out of the jet’s
windows was the ocean. Alexis started crying almost an hour into
the seven-hour trip.

“
You’re going to have to go
wake her up,” Kyle told Damon.

“
Can’t she wait to eat?
It’s not going to be fun when Emily wakes up,” Damon said,
frowning.

“
Oh sure, I’ll just ask her
to wait,” Kyle said sarcastically.

“
Fine,” Damon said, and
disappeared into the back of the plane.

Damon came back quietly, and sat down
in the seat by the window, turning to look out. Emily came up and
pulled the baby away from Kyle without saying a word, then went to
the back of the plane. Allen growled at Damon and followed
Emily.

“
How far away from the
airport is your villa?” Mark asked.

Damon turned to them, “Only about an
hour. There will be a limo waiting for us at the
airport.”

“
Do we… need to… you know,”
Mark said, and nodded toward where Emily was.

“
I’m not doing that again.
If she needs knocked out, one of you can take a turn,” Damon said,
his mind far away.

“
I doubt we can. That’s why
Chevalier asked you to do it, an ‘old one’ would be required,” Kyle
explained.

“
I’m not doing it
again.”

“
She’ll forgive you,” Kyle
said after a few minutes of silence.

“
I’m surprised she didn’t
turn me to ash,” Damon said.

“
Don’t think I didn’t try,”
Emily said, and sat across the aisle from them. Allen sat down
beside her. She had a blanket thrown over her shoulder and was
still glaring at Damon.

Kyle sighed, “Elder’s orders, Em. They
knew you would try to run off between flights.”

Emily ignored him and peeked under the
blanket to check on Alexis, then leaned her head back and shut her
eyes. The travel wasn’t helping her soreness, or the fact she was
always tired. Kyle noticed she lost some of the color in her
cheeks, and he was worried about her. They didn’t have a doctor
with them, and he knew Emily wasn’t feeling well.

Kyle got up to check in with the pilot
and was met in the aisle by a crouched and growling Allen. Kyle met
his crouch and narrowed his eyes at the boy. Mark and Damon watched
them nervously.

“
Sit down,” Kyle
hissed.

“
Stay away from my Mom,”
Allen told him angrily.

“
Sit down,” Kyle said
again, and Allen slowly complied, though it was obvious he didn’t
want to.

Kyle stood up and disappeared into the
cockpit, and Allen turned to stare at Damon. Kyle returned a short
time later, “We’re right on schedule, only five more hours left.
Did we bring anything for Allen?”

Mark nodded, “There’s supposed to be
some in the fridge.”

Kyle went back to the fridge and
poured four glasses for Allen. He heard Allen come up behind him
and hiss slightly, “Hold on, Kid.”

Allen lunged for the glasses and began
to drink as soon as Kyle moved to the side. He sat back down, and
watched Emily as she rocked the baby. Alexis’ eyes were open and
she was sucking on her fingers. Kyle hadn’t realized before how
much Alexis looked like the Elder, even her eyes were
dark.

Emily felt her pockets and then looked
over at the heku, “Where’s my phone?”

They glanced at each other and then
Damon spoke, “I have it.”

Emily held out her hand.

“
Sorry, Elder’s orders, no
contact with the palace,” he explained.

“
Give me my phone,” Emily
said, gritting her teeth.

“
No,” Damon said
bluntly.

Emily stared at him, her eyes
narrowing.

Damon gasped, “Are you trying to turn
me to ash?”

“
Damnit,” Emily said, and
turned to the window.

Damon turned to Kyle,
“She…”

Kyle nodded, “I saw.”

Emily leaned her chair back and soon
both she and the baby were asleep. Allen came back from the kitchen
and sat between her and the heku, and watched them carefully. He
started sleeping less and less lately and was down to only about an
hour a day.

When the plane landed on the small
landing strip, Kyle stood up to wake Emily, but Allen took a snap
at him. Kyle drew his arm back quickly, “Stop it.”

“
Don’t touch her,” Allen
said angrily.

Kyle grabbed Allen by the collar and
slammed him against the wall of the plane, “Listen to me, Boy. You
will respect the adults, or I’ll not hesitate to put you over my
knee. Do you understand?”

Allen growled and Kyle slammed him
against the wall again. Mark and Damon watched them with wide
eyes.

“
Do you understand? This is
going to be a long stay in France if you’re in a cell,” Kyle
growled.

Allen nodded unhappily.

Kyle dropped him and woke Emily up.
She stood and felt Kyle’s arms on her when she almost fell. She was
feeling dizzy and tired. All she wanted was to lie down. Kyle
picked her up as she held the baby and carried her off of the
plane. He worried more when she didn’t even complain. Once they
were all in the limousine, the driver took off for the hour-long
trip to the villa.

The driver pulled up to the security
gates at the villa, and Damon stepped out to talk to the guards.
Emily was slightly surprised that the guards were mortal. Damon
stepped back inside, and the iron gates swung open. The villa was
set back by itself and was among beautiful, thick trees and plants.
It was starting to get dark as they pulled up to the front
doors.